Landscaping Laws Pose Hurdle Kissimmee's Efforts To Regulate Development Are Not Always Well Received

September 18, 1987|By Vivian Perry of The Sentinel Staff

KISSIMMEE — New developments are going up beside longtime residential neighborhoods in Osceola County, and landscaping is being required in an effort to take the edge off a spate of new construction.

Ordinances calling for masonry walls, buffer areas and shrubs of a specific height add to the expenses for developers and get mixed reviews from established residents.

Kissimmee's zoning ordinance has been in effect three years and includes guidelines for the types of plants and landscaping required around new developments.

Its intent is to provide ''adequate sight and sound relief'' for the properties that border a new development, said City Planner Larry Whitaker.

The landscape requirements also are aimed at giving the city a planned look so visitors driving down a street get an impression of orderliness, he said.

The most stringent requirements apply to commercial projects beside residential areas. The developers of those projects must build 15-foot buffer zones and 6-foot walls to separate their property from that of nearby residents.

But in some cases, the requirements please neither the residents nor the developers.

In a series of public hearings earlier this year, the planning advisory board and the city commission heard the fears of property owners near the proposed site of Heritage Square.

The 14-acre office and retail complex planned for the north side of Oak Street extension was approved, but not before residents expressed concern about increased traffic and the possible destruction of old oak trees.

Developer Ray Parsons said he met with residents to discuss plans for the project.

''One of the problems is that homeowners sometimes don't want the 6-foot wall that is required,'' Parsons said. ''That puts developers in a precarious situation.''

Landscaping plans for Heritage Square include a separating wall of dirt, known as a berm wall. A masonry wall will be built only where the parking area abuts residential space, Parsons said.

The landscaping requirements can put planners in a quandary in a city where zoning changes occur regularly.

Whitaker said the planning department tries to anticipate shifting property use patterns so developers are not required to put walls next to residential property that soon will be rezoned as commercial.

In St. Cloud, a new land development code that takes effect next month includes landscaping regulations.

In the absence of an ordinance, the city has been using the Altamonte Springs regulations as a guide, said city planner Jay Marlles.

''What we have been doing is negotiating land-use plans,'' he said.

The regulations soon to go into effect will include ''a very tough tree ordinance,'' Marlles said.

''We tried to come up with a good landscaping code that was also reasonable.''